1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to feeder equipment, and more specifically to an improved device for dispersing animal and fish feed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Feeding of wildlife and fish using automated feeders is well known in the art. Numerous designs for such automated feeders have been used, and most, if not all, of such designs have one or several drawbacks.
An important general issue related to such feeders is that of reliability. Automated feeders can jam in use, and the unattended nature of such devices means that a jam may go undetected for an extended period of time. A feed jam means that the desired function of providing feed to wildlife is not implemented. Further, such jams can cause damage to the feeder itself, such as burning out a drive motor or bending a portion of the feeder. Animal feed is highly hygroscopic, so it swells and becomes sticky over time. Because of this, feed jams are relatively common in currently available feeder designs.
Current designs also do not lend themselves to easy maintenance in the field. In order to clear a jam, typically a portion of the feeder must be disassembled, and the current designs do not make this process simple. It is often difficult to determine exactly what the cause of the jam even is, in many cases.
Current feeder designs are usually relatively large and bulky, making them difficult to transport and set up. They are also difficult to attach and remove from commonly available feed buckets and hoppers.
It would be desirable to provide an improved animal feed dispenser that is both simple to use and easy to maintain. It is preferable for such a device to be relatively inexpensive of manufacture, easy to use and clear in the field, reliable, small in size, and capable of easy attachment to and removal from a feed hopper.